Edward Furlong is well cast as Michael, a sullen and awkward 16 year old with few friends, and a passion for horror films and computer games. This makes him the perfect choice to try a new game called "Brainscan", which puts him through the paces of committing murder. Then, the crime is manifested in reality, and he is understandably panicky, especially when a tight-lipped homicide detective named Hayden (Frank Langella) starts glaring at him suspiciously. A character dubbed Trickster (T. Ryder Smith) emerges from the game to repeatedly goad Michael into action, and otherwise chew on the scenery.
People of a certain age who are into the same sort of hobbies as Michael will likely enjoy this the most, although it's not without its pleasures for other audiences. The plot, in which fantasy and reality are always mixed up, is fairly familiar (Andrew Kevin Walker scripted, from a story by Brian Owens). Overall, "Brainscan" doesn't hold any real surprises, although it does have some entertaining visuals and effective gore. This was a rare step into genre work for the veteran filmmaker John Flynn, whose eclectic resume includes "The Outfit", "Rolling Thunder", "Defiance", "Best Seller", and "Out for Justice". He keeps it moving along well, and gets a reasonably sympathetic performance out of Furlong. Amy Hargreaves is appealing as the neighbour whom Michael spies on (among his other pursuits, he's a voyeur). Langella is good in a nicely under-stated performance as the cop. Smith is amusing in the films' big showcase role; the filmmakers were probably hoping that he would become something of a genre icon, but this has not been the case so far.
"Brainscan" is goofy and patently far fetched, but is also intense and creepy at times as well, entertaining its viewers in decent enough fashion. It definitely can boast a haunting George S. Clinton score and a soundtrack full of solid tunes.
At first, the ending comes off as a little too annoying, but there was at least one thing about the story resolution that tickled this viewer.
Six out of 10.
People of a certain age who are into the same sort of hobbies as Michael will likely enjoy this the most, although it's not without its pleasures for other audiences. The plot, in which fantasy and reality are always mixed up, is fairly familiar (Andrew Kevin Walker scripted, from a story by Brian Owens). Overall, "Brainscan" doesn't hold any real surprises, although it does have some entertaining visuals and effective gore. This was a rare step into genre work for the veteran filmmaker John Flynn, whose eclectic resume includes "The Outfit", "Rolling Thunder", "Defiance", "Best Seller", and "Out for Justice". He keeps it moving along well, and gets a reasonably sympathetic performance out of Furlong. Amy Hargreaves is appealing as the neighbour whom Michael spies on (among his other pursuits, he's a voyeur). Langella is good in a nicely under-stated performance as the cop. Smith is amusing in the films' big showcase role; the filmmakers were probably hoping that he would become something of a genre icon, but this has not been the case so far.
"Brainscan" is goofy and patently far fetched, but is also intense and creepy at times as well, entertaining its viewers in decent enough fashion. It definitely can boast a haunting George S. Clinton score and a soundtrack full of solid tunes.
At first, the ending comes off as a little too annoying, but there was at least one thing about the story resolution that tickled this viewer.
Six out of 10.